Terse Elements

Oz and Andebert stood on the first floor of the dungeon and waited for more vine fruit to drop. Carcasses of dungeon creatures lay in the area around the entrance, but only a handful were fresh. Oz had checked the whole floor in vain for creatures in ambush. They had gathered all the dropped fruits with the materials inside, Andebert even had a special box that could keep the ice orbs frozen. It was clear to both of them that multiple people had entered the dungeon and had not yet left.

Oz felt conflicted about confronting the trespassers. It hadn’t been that long since he himself had taken creatures from this dungeon without permission from the hill lord. It wasn’t a law that the dungeon and everything within belonged to the nearest hill lord, it was just that hill lords were responsible for dungeons and monsters and things like that. To take from a dungeon without permission was similar to baking bread in someone else’s oven; it was rude, and you might mess something up. Oz didn’t want anyone to mess up the dungeon and ruin that dark rainbow floor, that was certain. Oz wondered what dungeon features Andy and the other hill lords would want to protect. He had almost worked through the reluctance to break the silence and ask when a woman ran through the left-hand portal and fell on her face.

A millipede rose up on her leg, ready to bite. The next instant, the millipede fell in two pieces as Andebert arrived with his knife. The woman lay on the ground, gasping for breath and bleeding from many places. Oz didn’t think she knew they were there. Andebert frowned in worry. He reached in a pouch and took out a healing barrel. It wasn’t really a barrel; it just had the shape of a miniature barrel and it had medicine inside. Andebert carefully placed his hand on a patch of shoulder that wasn’t too abused and rolled her over. She groaned.

“Hildred?” Andebert asked.

After a few breaths, she responded. “Hilda”.

Andebert’s expression said he would smile at that at some other time. “Chew this.” He commanded. He pushed the barrel into her mouth. She tried to spit it out, but he pushed it back in. She crushed the barrel in her teeth, and medicine flowed down her throat. Oz knew that the medicine was magic enough to not choke the patient, but the woman coughed anyway as the barrel dissolved.

“Leta’s dead.” She said. She raised one of her hands which was closed in a fist and stained grey. “This is all that’s left.” Her eyes opened a sliver and stared at her hand. She was still staring when the medicine forced her to sleep.

Oz watched as many of the wounds stopped bleeding. The melted flesh around her eyes also reduced and thinned. Oz looked at Andebert. Andebert looked at Oz. Oz shifted uncomfortably; he didn’t know this person or “Leta”. Andebert stood and turned fully towards Oz.

“Osmund, will you swear to serve me in my work as Hill Lord and to keep my secrets for a year and a day or until I release you from this oath?” Andebert’s voice echoed impossibly around the dungeon floor. A System message appeared in Oz’s mind.

_ Warning: Violation Of The Proposed Oath Will Result In Loss Of All Levels And Experience _

Oz’s eyes bulged and he nearly shouted, “Why would I do that?”

Andebert walked over and put a hand on Oz’s shoulder. Andebert’s face looked sad and weary. “Because I need you, Oz. I need your help.”

Oz’s thoughts shot to the question he had earlier: what dungeon features would Andy want to protect? “Would…” Oz swallowed. “Would I help protect the dungeon?”

Andebert looked a little surprised. “Yes, you would.”

Oz closed his eyes. “Then yes, I swear to serve you in your work as Hill Lord and to keep your secrets for a year and a day or until you release me from this oath.” His voice didn’t echo, which seemed petty on the part of the system.

The two men prepared Hilda to be carried. Andebert opened her hand and found the ashes. They didn’t have a good container for ashes, so Andebert took out a medicinal vial and, looking uncomfortable, poured the contents over the worst of the remaining wounds. To Oz’s questioning look, Andebert explained, “You really shouldn’t mix two powerful medicines like this because it could make things worse, but I know from experience that these two are safe enough.” He scraped the ashes into the vial and resealed it. Then, all things ready, Oz picked up Hilda and all three left the dungeon.

_ Successfully Defeated Intruder Group. Experience Awarded _

_ Core Level Increased to 6. Mana Storage Increased 5%. Mana Generation increased 5%. Durability Increased 10% _

_ Select Dungeon Reward:

New Material

Unlock Spawn

Unlock Treasure

Entrance Feature

_

_ Random Selection: “Entrance Feature” Selected. Select From Available Features: … _

_ Random Selection: “Welcome Message (Sign)” Selected. Messages Restricted. Select From Available Message Formats: … _

_ Random Selection: “Beware the Mighty DUNGEON_NAME” Selected _

_ Supply Dungeon Name _

The System waited a short time for a response directly from the dungeon core, then it turned to the Dungeon Fairy

_ “Randomize All” Not Compatible With Dungeon Name Generation. Select Dungeon Name Generation Formula: … _

_ Random Selection: “Adjective Noun” Selected. Generating Dungeon Name _

_ Dungeon Name: “Terse Elem- _

Within the gall in main worldlet of the dungeon, the void bubble pulsed and spun. The message from the System warped and strained between the will of the void bubble and the will of the System.

_ Dungeon Name: “untimely vengeance of intolerable solitude beyond compre-” _

The System message snapped back into place, and the void bubble shrank noticeably as the mana around it surged.

_ Dungeon Name: “Terse Elements” _

Above the vine doorway in the forest outside the dungeon, a bronze plaque came into being. Plaques around dungeon entrances always had the message written in three languages. The topmost language on the plaque was unknown and defied translation. Some wizard researchers believed the middle language to be an ancient language of dragons. The lowest language was whatever language was most common in the surrounding region. The plaque in the forest read:

“Beware the Mighty Terse Elements”